Public Health and Safety

Introduction

The overall goal of the GCOOS is to empower people, communities and businesses to improve decision-making about our lives, work, and play along the Nation’s Gulf Coast. The aim of the Public Health and Safety focus is to help protect public health and enhance safety. Oil spills, harmful algal blooms, dangerous currents and weather, and coastal land loss are examples of threats to public health and safety along the Gulf Coast. In addition to tragic losses of life and the health of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem, the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 cost approximately $4.5 billion in criminal penalties alone, with additional funds to the Natural Resources Damage Assessment, civil claims, and more. In Texas, a single harmful algal bloom event in 2000 cost the oyster industry $10 million in lost revenue due to closure from harvest to protect public health (NOAA, 2010b). GCOOS plays an important role in protecting public health and safety by providing easy access to sound, integrated data and specialized products.

The Phytoplankton Time Series at Port Aransas, part of the Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve (MANEER) program – images of phytoplankton species taken from an Imagine FlowCytobot along with chlorophyll fluorescence data.

Integrated Water Quality Network – Coming soon! This in-development product will be an interactive map with integrated water quality monitoring data, from rivers-to-oceans, for the U.S. Gulf Coast States. A pilot project is currently underway in Southwest Florida with the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF). SCCF’s water quality data is currently available through the GCOOS Data Portal. GCOOS water quality experts are also initiating similar efforts in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

Harmful Algal Bloom Integrated Observing System (HABIOS) – Coming soon! This in-development product will be an interactive map with integrated station and AUV data on harmful algal blooms along the Gulf coast and Continental Shelf. A plan is available at http://gcoos.org/?page_id=2612.